OSHA stands for Occupational Safety & Health Administration and it comes under the United States Department of Labor. This is an organization that has been set up to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for everyone.
This organization has been created with a list of workplace requirements and rules to make sure that employers are keeping their workers safe at all times. However, as we know all too well, not everyone follows the correct standards for worker safety, and sometimes there is a need for an OSHA violation attorney.
What Does OSHA Include?
To help you understand what this organization is all about and what kind of legal matters they deal with we have composed a list of things they regulate with OSHA standards vs things that have nothing to do with OSHA.
OSHA Standards Include:
- Protecting workers from extreme temperatures whether hot or cold.
- Equipping employees with the corrective protective equipment for the task.
- Indoor air quality
- Exposure to hazardous materials or chemicals
- Fire safety
- Safe drinking water
- Restroom access
- Machinery and equipment maintenance
- Proper safety warnings
- Generally, any and all safe working conditions involve equipment, methods, and guidelines.
OSHA Standards Do Not Include:
- Smoking regulations (except when from a fire safety perspective)
- Workplace violence
- Discrimination
- Working alone
- Food safety
- Workers wages
Is Your Workplace OSHA Compliant?
If you believe as a worker that your workplace is not a safe working environment then you have the ability and the responsibility to report it to OSHA. After a complaint has been made, OSHA will come to do an inspection of the workplace to see if your concern is valid.
Note that you do not need to know all of the OSHA standards to file a complaint. You just need common sense to recognize a serious danger to yourself or your coworkers.
When choosing a job you can also check online to see if the company has had OSHA issues before and what those issues were.
Lastly, there is the case where sometimes the danger is not recognized or reported until it is too late and someone gets injured or even dies as a result. In these situations, swift action is required.
However, though you can still report it to OSHA it is recommended that the first thing you do is seek a law firm who can assist you with the issue. Industrial accidents are no longer mere concerns but they are the worst-case scenario of what can happen when OSHA regulations are not followed.
If you have suffered a workplace injury or have lost a family member as a result, you should speak with a qualified law firm so they can investigate the matter further and determine if compensation is due.